YOUNGSTOWN Woman reports rape by three men

This is the second rape with multiple assailants reported on the South Side in two weeks. By PATRICIA MEADE VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN -- A woman who had been walking to the Sundown Tavern on South Avenue about 1 a.m. today told police she was raped by three men. The 36-year-old Helena Avenue woman called police from the bar about 1:22 a.m. When the officers arrived, she told them she had been walking east on East Lucius Avenue from Southern Boulevard toward the bar when the men approached, pushed her to the ground and raped her. The woman wasn't clear on the exact location of the attack but believes it happened near a church, possibly St. Dominic, at the corner of East Lucius and Southern. The male officers -- William Ward and T.A. Brown -- said she was very upset and didn't want to provide more details to them and asked to speak to a female officer. Ward noted in his report that the woman's shirt was torn and she had bruises on her head and a small cut on the bridge of her nose. The officers said she had grass stains on her jeans. An ambulance took the woman to St. Elizabeth Health Center from the bar. At the hospital, Patrolwoman Melissa Morales-Villanueva interviewed the victim, who was only able to give a description of one suspect. She described him as black and in his 20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes and medium complexion, wearing a blue Nike T-shirt and baggy jeans. The victim was treated at the hospital and a rape exam was done. Detective Sgt. Ismael Caraballo took two photographs of the woman's injuries. Earlier rape: This is the second gang rape on the South Side reported in two weeks. Charges have been filed against two adults and two boys related to the kidnapping, rape and robbery of a 21-year-old Boardman woman who told police she was taken from the driveway of a house on Detroit Avenue and driven to a side street off Market Street about 10:45 p.m. Aug. 21. An assistant Mahoning County prosecutor has asked that the boys be bound over to a grand jury and tried as adults. meade@vindy.com